Chapitre 13: CH 12: curiosity killed the cat
pov: adam
We walked down a dirt road for a while before coming to a halt at a y-shaped intersection that seemed to be the center of the village. Before us was a rusted 2 story building made out of numerous upright shipping containers with holes that were filled in by various materials that ranged from rocks up to random pieces of metal.
"I see you've got your eyes on the chief's home" ms. Maria said before walking backwards a few steps and putting her fingers together to make a rectangle next to her eye. I watched as angled it so that the building and I were in the middle.
"why is his home so different from everyone else's?" I asked curiously as I turned to ask her before looking back at the building. My question seemed to make her somewhat hesitant as she held her chin and started to tap her cheek almost as if contemplating what to tell me only to shrug when she finally stopped.
"Probably Status I guess, after all, how else are you going to tell everyone that someone is more important than you." she said plainly as a slim bald man walked out from the building dejectedly with a rolled-up parchment in hand. He rolled up the parchment and stuck it inside his shirt before kicking a couple of pebbles that were in his way as he walked down a less populated road to the right of us.
"Why is that bald guy going down that lonely path rather than to the left where everyone else is?" I asked Ms. Maria before pointing my index finger at the bald man to make it easier for her to spot him.
"the right-hand side is where the nobles live and on the left is the market and where us peasants work and live." she said hurriedly as she quickly pressed my hand down before anyone else noticed.
~probably best not to point at a noble or you might lose more than a finger~ ghost chimed in mentally before going on to say ~just follow along for now but be careful, I feel a lot of eyes have been on us~ I gave a small nod of understanding before focusing on ms. Maria once more who didn't seem focused on me but rather on the people around us.
"It's different for each village but I'll explain that to you later" she said nervously as she led me down the busy path to the left.
...
pov: a totally random cultist
I looked at my reflection in the crystal clear water of the pond next to the old makeshift church just before the mass began. I had to make sure the red paint that they asked me to use was in the correct pattern.
~Hopefully, I get this right after all it's just painting both eyelids red then having the paint go straight down before curving towards my ears just before my nose ends, if I don't I will look like a damn fool~ I thought to myself as I noticed some paint missing from the eyelid of my right eye.
I quickly pulled out a modified pocket mirror that didn't include any mirrors just the red paint that I got from the bishop. It was weird that he asked me to put it on before attending the mass but I doubt there's much to it after all it's paint.
I quickly applied the last bit of paint just as people started to kneel next to the church altar on one leg. I hastily wiped any remaining paint on my fingers on the inside of my clothes before going inside to join the others.
I kneeled with both legs on the steps leading up to the church altar alongside several of my brothers and sisters who were also doing the same. We waited in place silently staring at the floor without moving a muscle until we heard the sound of a bell being rung.
Upon hearing the bell we all looked up at the burly great priest who towered over us all. I noticed a friendly looking Asian man with a mustache above all of us on the second floor as we waited in absolute silence for the echo of the bell's chime to finally die down after it travels through the church.
The great priest began to speak about an old age as he slowly sprinkled holy water onto us with a silver aspergillum. Yet in a matter of minutes he spoke faster and faster, and as he did so holy water started falling onto us like rain from a storm cloud.
As the priest spoke his all black coat that he wore seemed to somehow glow before the eyes of everyone. Thin golden lines adorned his previously pure black robe with numerous majestic designs that seemed to constantly change. I found myself entranced by the beauty of his holiness coat yet the temptation of touching his holy robe seemed irresistible after setting my mortal eyes.
I reached out my hand to touch his holy robe only for my hand to be smacked away by one of my fellow brothers who had a red 0 painted on his face like a pikachu.
"Do not sully his holiness with your filthy hands" he said spitefully as I reeled back my arm and lowered my head from the shame I felt. I lowered myself to the floor as far as I could go, for even if my face was buried 6 ft deep, it still wouldn't be enough of a punishment for me if I had succeeded.
"that is enough joseph" his holiness said with kindness that mirrored that of lord osho. Joseph who had smacked my hand away previously now kneeled nervously just like me so as to not anger his holiness any further. Even as I watched Joseph kneel closer to the ground my mind still replayed his words for I knew I had to thank him later for helping me avoid the temptation of that weird desire.
A hand touched the back of my head which surprised me but it is to be expected as I have sinned before the great priest and sins would never go unnoticed by his holiness. The hand pulled my hair and lifted my head up from the floor, I lowered my eyes to look at the ground as a way to repent for my shameful sins.
"I have a mission for you my son. Come with me" his holiness said calmly before letting go of my hair, making my head to fall back to where it originally was. I turned to look at my fellow brothers and sisters with excitement as they looked on enviously. I smiled brightly at their blatant jealousy of me as I got up gratefully and followed.
Even as the brothers and sisters watched in envy all but one sister who stood close to a window. This sister had a red x painted onto her terrified face as she stared at the child like figure running through lonely and desolate tombs outside. She fearfully took a step back from the window and neared one of the brothers.
Whom she tapped away at until he asked her what she wanted somewhat irked for being disturbed. Yet she didn't respond, she just pointed towards the figure of a pale child outside that was running through the graveyard happily as if it was a playground.
The brother looked at where she pointed only to find nothing there but a wisp of smoke leaving the graveyard most likely from an extinguished candle.
"Stop trying to fuck with me?" He said sternly before turning back to face the altar and praying.
Soon as the brother turned his back the smoke gathered into the shape of the child I saw earlier only this time he looked straight at me. He moved his pale arms to his mouth and gestured for silence as I felt my heart thumping faster and faster.
I remained silent and motionless for who knows how long as we stared at each other. His cold dead eyes seemed to replicate the feeling you get when visiting a tomb of someone you lost. After getting that feeling for a while the child finally ran off into the graveyard and before I knew it he was gone.
...
pov: Timmy
I was walking up the stairs of our house when I remembered I hadn't told my mom where I was going. I quickly turned around on the step I was on and boringly walked a couple of steps down.
"moom, I'm going over to Mr. Artos workshop" I said loudly just to make sure that she could hear me from my little sister's room. I heard something fall over inside which was definitely her scrambling to get something to beat me with.
~Mom can't beat me if I'm at the neighbor's~ I thought to myself as I ran up the stairs while complimenting myself on how smart I was but the thought of the ass whopping I would get when I came back for lunch maybe forget my self praise.
Just as I made it to the top I heard some noise behind me, I turned around to find my mom with her messy short hair holding a wooden spoon "Timmy your not going anywhere until your father returns from the store. Do You Understand Young Man" she said menacingly as she waved a wooden spoon menacingly from the bottom of the staircase.
She didn't look pleased in the slightest as she pointed to the ground right in front of her which made me gulp out of fear. ~it's now or never~ I told myself before taking a deep breath of fresh air, summoning my courage and waving goodbye to her as I fled as fast as my legs could take me. I could hear her shouting angrily for me to return but she eventually gave up and went back inside to take care of Emily who was probably crying by now.
The air felt refreshing as I ran down the dirt road excited for what I would learn today from Mr. Artos.~maybe he'll teach me how to mark a ring or a dagger that I can give to my mom~ I thought to myself as I ducked and weaved between people that were walking toward the market but I didn't worry about them as I closed my eyes and took in a breath of fresh air before nearing Mr. Arto's workshop which was sometimes surrounded by a cloud of smog.
~today seems to be my lucky day~ I thought to myself as I saw Mr. Arto's in the back tending to a pot that was being held over a fire by a pillar of rocks. "Hello, Mr. Arto's!" I yelled out with a wave of my hand only to bump into a clothed leg which sent me to the ground.
"Watch where ur going next time kiddo" a grumpy middle aged guy said as he walked away. Although I was a bit irked at how rude that person just was I'm sure they were just having a bad day, after all, everyone has bad days even me. "Why are you here today timmy? I thought I told your mom that I couldn't teach you today." Mr. Arto's said patiently as he pulled me up and onto my feet before dusting the dirt off my clothes.
"Why is that Mr. Arto's" I asked curiously as I watched the man who knocked me over walk away. "I can't tell you, but you should head on home." he said kindly before lifting me ever so slightly and turning me toward the direction of my house. "Alright, I'll head on home" I said dejectedly as I started walking back home.
I walked back home disappointed that I couldn't learn anything today from Mr. Artos. ~Hopefully by now mom might be willing to forgive me~ I thought to myself as I kicked a pebble and watched it bounce through the dirt.
Upon hearing a heavy thud to my left, I immediately turned to look only to see a thin old man with a goatee laying on the floor. I hurriedly ran up to check on him as mom always told me to "check on your elders and that they appreciate the company or something like that."
He didn't seem to be awake as far as I could tell but seemed to still be breathing. Just I was about to leave something caught my eye. A weird shiny tube-looking thing was sticking out of his abdomen just above his belly button.
Out of curiosity l touched the weird tube thing which was weirdly sharp as it pricked my index finger. I quickly pulled it back and tried to shake the pain off which didn't work. I tried sucking on the wound not noticing that a drop of blood was crawling down the clear tube.
As Timmy tended to his wound, the old man opened his eyes wide only for small veins to appear on them as they became bloodshot.
He quickly grabbed Timmy's hand and started scraping it against the tube which was slowly getting dirtier with blood.
The child tried to yell for his mother or anyone but never got the chance to as the old man wrapped his hand around the boys mouth and kept it shut.
He tried freeing himself by kicking and punching the old man yet nothing seemed to work as the thin old man stood there without reaction.
The old man however didn't seem to like Timmy's attempts to free himself as he clamped down even harder on Timmy's captive hand, a few audible cracks and muffled screams came as a result.
In a last-ditch attempt to free himself, Timmy took a bit out of the old man's hand which seemed to work as the old man pulled the hand over his mouth away. Seeing his chance Timmy let out a scream for help for anyone in their surroundings. only to realize it was all a hallucination due to a lack of air. Breathing seemed to get harder to do as his eyelids started to feel heavy.
As I slowly drifted off, I watched as things nearby began to blur and slowly disappear. Yet as quickly as they were disappearing they suddenly returned, I could feel a couple of salty tears make their way into my mouth as I gasped for air before my jaw was forcefully shut and my head held in place. I stared at the path between the huts that led to the road miserably while desperately convincing myself that this was all just a cruel joke.
That all disappeared once the adrenaline wore off and the pain started to kick in again, I could feel something sharp cut through each of my fingers like they were a slice of bread. I cried tears of despair as I watched a familiar piece of rough skin fall before me into a slowly growing pile of skin.
I didn't even feel anything as the man playfully tapped my fingers one by one before I lost the sensation of my fingers. I wanted to scream, for someone to hear me so badly but I found myself falling to the floor after he hit me on the back of the head. I couldn't feel anything not even my own body, it was like being awake while being operated on and nobody noticed.
I silently wept as my mouth didn't move like I wanted it to even as a bloody rock fell right in front of me before rolling through a small gap underneath the tent next to us, a fair bit of blood stilling sliding around its rocky crevices.
I laid there silently, unable to say anything or do anything other than move my eyes to the slowly growing pile of skin that had been pushed to the side. Sadness washed over me as I regretfully remembered my mom's words ~I should have listened...~ I thought regretfully as I watched some blood...no...my blood slither down the jagged edges of the hidden rock before everything finally turned dark.
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État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone